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FRIDAY, July 12, 2013 — All helmets are equal when it comes to preventing concussions, according to preliminary new research presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Researchers found that all brands of helmets protected high school football players from concussion equally, but experts caution that modern helmets are not that effective at reducing concussion risk.

"According to our research, lower risks of sustaining a sports-related concussion (SRC) and its severity were not improved based on a specific manufacturer,” lead author Timothy McGuine, PhD, athletic trainer with the University of Wisconsin, said in a statement.

Researchers also found that the age of the helmet didn’t play a role in lowering concussion risk either.

“The SRC rates were similar for players wearing new helmets, as compared to those wearing older ones,” Dr. McGuine said in the statement.

Anne Ambrose MD, medical director of the traumatic brain injury unit department of rehabilitation medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, said the results of the study did not surprise her.

“The type of helmet doesn’t matter as long as they’re the proper one for sports,” Dr. Ambrose said. “There are standards that are recommended for each helmet, and manufacturers make their helmets to these standards.”

Unfortunately, she added, it’s very difficult to prevent concussions from happening to football players.

Could a Concussion-Shielding Helmet Offer Help?

But Jorge Gomez, MD, primary care sports medicine physician at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, said preventing concussions would be possible if players wore a helmet designed to do so.

“The modern day football helmets were not designed to prevent concussions,” Dr. Gomez said. “They evolved out of a concern over more serious head injuries, such as major bleeding in the head. It has done a great job of that, but they are not designed to prevent concussions.”

One of the major issues with current helmets is that while it does a good job at cushioning the head from a head on collision, it doesn’t protect against the major cause of concussions in football players, Gomez said.

“Concussions occur not with a direct blow to the head, but from the head turning very rapidly, which jars the brain,” he said. “Helmets aren’t designed to prevent that.”

However, Gomez stressed that people are working to build a helmet that will help protect football players from concussions.

“A lot of people are looking at trying to design a better helmet,” he said. “People are working on the problem, but it's a difficult problem to protect against.”